The Beloved Son of God is not tied to the prescribed prayer times of the Temple. He lives instead a rhythm of contemplation and action – swimming in the waters of God and the waters of the world. His disciples have been watching Him at prayer and they want whatever He is having! Perhaps, if they can connect with God like He does, they will have less difficulty with His unpredictable attitudes and behaviours. “Lord, teach us to pray,” they say. His words lack any solemnity. He speaks to God with the intimacy of a friend. The Jaw dropping use of the word ‘Abba’ a clue about what is to come. His disciples unite heart and soul in reverence for their Abba and unite in the only activity worth doing, working for the coming of Gods Kingdom. The prayer of Jesus transforms the One who prays it into a unity of being and doing. Now, as they walk the earth, they are an open invitation into the heart of God. Those who are still alienated from the Love which is their life see the truth and the beauty of what is before them. The disciples sow seeds which are destined to become a tree which attracts all the birds in the air. And if it should be the case that those who are alienated from God reject their offer and attack the ones who offer it, they will not respond with violence or threats. Only love must be returned should trials come.
Now that they have the words and the illumination they’re bring, Jesus moves to stage two. The first Parable is outstanding, because it suggests first that God is also praying to us to act with justice. God arrives at the door of His ‘friends’ to tell them of hungry travellers who need rest and nourishment. If their friendship with God does not move them to act with justice, God will just keep on asking till they do it if only to get some peace! The second Parable follows the same theme and celebrates that fact that people in bed and evil parents will overcome the obstacles to compassionate living and give what is needed.
Now back to Abba – the one who gives with no obstacles. He is overflowing with the desire to give the Holy Spirit to anyone who asks, seeks and knocks. For Jesus, prayer is the art of opening ourselves to the gift that is already there. Praying the prayer of Jesus as illumination is learning what to ask for and how to receive it. The Holy Spirit floods the hearts of all who ask and creates a bond that jump starts the adventure of being a disciple of Jesus. The tragedy would be if the prayer which is His gift to us is repeated mindlessly. If it is memorised and repeated in a way that never expresses the thoughts of our minds or the feelings of our heart, we have lost it and we need to apprentice ourselves anew to the divine Teacher.
One of Leo Tolstoy’s mystical short stories explores this theme. A bishop on a ship is told that there are three hermits living on the island they are passing. The bishop insists on going to meet them and he asks them how they pray. They tell the bishop that their whole life is a prayer. The words they use, “We are three. You are three. Have mercy on us.” The bishop teaches them the Lord’s Prayer and tells them to use that instead. A few years later the bishop is back in the area and as he is considering a second visit, a ball of light comes out of the island and moves towards the ship. As the ball of light gets closer, the bishop sees the three
hermits are within. They are telling him that they have forgotten some of the Lord’s Prayer and they need more instruction. But the bishop is jolted by a new awareness and awakened to the true holiness of the hermits. A holiness that has come without the repetition of words. He answers, “Go home, and when you pray, say, “You are three. We are three. Have mercy on us”.
This is not an argument for ditching the learning of prayers but for making them our own. Perhaps, since we use Matthew’s version of the Lord’s Prayer in the liturgy, we could try using Luke’s version in our personal prayer to keep it where Jesus wants it to be. Its potent coupling of phrases prepares the heart for self-giving, generative justice and love. It is the Love which God pours without reserve into the empty hearts of all who ask. This is a cup which is destined, as Psalm 23 celebrates, to overflow.
